Folding wardrobe kit for clamshell-type luggage case

ABSTRACT

Many luggage cases have included mechanisms for helping fold garments for the traveler to help minimize wrinkling and to aid packing. Such mechanisms have included straps, bars and devices for holding hangers on which the garments are to be folded and hung. This invention includes a kit ( 4 ) for holding the bar ( 22 ) for receiving the hook portions (H) of hangers well above a vertically oriented lid portion ( 2 ) of the luggage case ( 1 ) and attachment devices ( 27, 38, 37 ) that permit the user to remove and replace this support mechanism within the lid shell of the luggage case. Also provided is a hanger bar which is moved into the lid of the case to permit the clothing on hangers to be easily placed in the luggage case, but is easily removed for more conventional packing.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

This invention relates to suitcases of preferably the hard-shell varietybut, in any event, a luggage case sized to carry adult clothing or asuit of adult clothing. More particularly, the invention relates to amethod for easily packing and folding a suit of adult clothing in aluggage case having a clamshell-type opening such that the clamshell lidcan support itself in a vertical or upright position when the case isopened.

Such a suitcase is shown in U.S. Pat. No. RE35,563, naming Girard Sissonas the sole inventor and assigned to Samsonite Corporation. In thispatent, a bar suitable for receiving the hooked portions of hangers issupported on an erectable structure which pivots above the upper edge ofthe lid portion of the suitcase.

This erectable bar structure is superior to most packing systems forsuch luggage cases in that it conveniently positions the hanger-bornesuit of clothing in an unfolded erect position to aid the traveler topack and unpack the suit of clothing from this elevated and erectposition. All the traveler needs to do to pack these hanging clothes isto rotate the erected structure into the lid of the luggage case. Thisfolds the suit of clothing approximately in half and places the suit ofclothing into the lid portion of a clamshell luggage case.

This patented system, however, is somewhat complicated in that itrequires placing the clothing between an inflatable bladder and a rigidbar to grip the folded clothing to prevent the clothing from shiftingand becoming wrinkled during transport. Also, the disclosed clothingstructure is fixed into the lid of the case. This tends to limit theversatility of the luggage case into which it is installed.

Accordingly, it is an object of the disclosed invention to provide arelatively simple clothing packing and folding mechanism which permitsthe traveler to place hanging clothing in an unfolded condition on asupport bar, yet folds the clothes neatly into lid of the clamshell-typeluggage case with relatively simple operations. Also, it is an object ofthe subject invention to provide a kit for a luggage case which iseasily removable and re-installable into the luggage case depending onwhether the traveler wishes to use the kit to fold a suit of clothinginto the luggage case, or to use the space in the lid of the luggagecase for other travel items.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES

FIG. 1 shows the wardrobe kit installed in the lid portion of theluggage case.

FIG. 2 is a close-up view of the kit installed in the lid of the luggagecase, with the kit in the position for packing a suit of clothing (notshown) in the lid of the luggage case.

FIG. 3 is an overview of the luggage case showing the wardrobe kit inthe extended position, with the suit of clothes supported by the kitprior to folding into the lid of the luggage case.

FIG. 4 shows the kit in the packed position with the suit of clothesfolded neatly into the lid of the luggage case.

FIG. 5 shows a flexible divider pad clipped over the suit of clothes inthe folded condition.

FIG. 6 is a close-up view of the left portion of the luggage case lidwith the wardrobe kit in the erect position and ready to receive andsupport clothing on hangers but with the folding bar already inposition.

FIG. 7 is a close-up view of one of the two flexible strap stays mountednear the hinge, this one at the lower left corner of the luggage case.

FIG. 8 is a perspective view of the support bar assembly of the wardrobekit.

FIG. 9 is a perspective view of the removable folding bar assembly ofthe wardrobe kit.

FIG. 10 shows one of the flexible stays removed from the luggage case.

FIG. 11 shows an exploded view of the left arm portion of the supportbar assembly.

FIG. 12 shows a portion of the left arm portion with the detent and theengaging cam portions of the left base.

FIG. 13 shows the left arm portion of the support bar assembly installedin the left base which is in turn fixed to the frame of the luggage caselid.

FIG. 14 is a more detailed view of that shown in FIG. 13 showing theengagement of the end plug of the bar assembly in the socket of the leftarm.

FIG. 15 shows the bar assembly after being removed from the arm.

FIG. 16 shows the folding bar assembly completely removed from thehanger support and the hanger support ready to receive clothing onhangers.

FIG. 17 shows the hanger support bar assembly being removed fromengagement with the base.

FIG. 18 shows the support strap in its nonfunctional position and therest of the kit removed from the lid of the luggage case.

FIG. 19 is a cut-away view of the luggage case showing the end of theleft arm and the end plug of the folding bar locked into the base.

FIG. 20 is a detail of the base and left arm assembly with the hangersupport bar assembly.

FIG. 21 is another view similar to FIG. 20, but with the hanger supportin the erect position.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

Referring to the figures, the luggage case 1 in which the inventivewardrobe kit 4 is to be attached is preferably of the so-called“hardside” construction. The lid and base portions 2 and 3 are hingedtogether with a mechanical hinge 7. Each such shell portion is generallyrigid or at least has a rigid frame 5 which is structurally strongenough to support its weight, the weight of the traveler's goods packedtherein and, more specifically, strong enough to support the wardrobekit 4 in its various positions, especially in the erect position shownin FIG. 1 for example. While a hardside case is preferred, specificallythe Piggyback® luggage case sold by Samsonite Corporation, other luggagecases having the requisite rigidity and strength will serve.

The wardrobe kit itself consists of the following main assemblies. Thehanger bar support assembly 20 which consists of a bent wire harp orinverted U-shaped portion 21 which grips a hanger bar 22 at its uppermost end as shown in the figures. The hanger bar is sized to receive thehooked portion of conventional clothes hangers H. The wire harp is tallenough to hold a suit of clothes hanging from such a supported hangerabove the base shell 3 of the luggage case so that the clothes hanggenerally straight and vertical. A folding bar assembly 23 is located atthe lower most portion of the hanger bar support assembly, and a pair ofbases 28 is screwed to the upper ends of the sides of the lid shell. Atensioned support strap 35 extends across the upper portion of the lidshell below the attachment locations of the bases. Lastly, a pair offlexible stays 10,10 is removably attached to the lid shell and normallyextends between the lid and base shells near the hinge. These staysresist the tendency of the lid shell to open to its full horizontalposition relative to the base shell.

The base portions are of injection molded plastic and are affixed withscrews inside of the frame as stated above. The function of such base isto selectively hold the right or left harp arms of the hanger barsupport assembly as will be detailed. The bases also include camsurfaces 25 along which spring-biased detents 26 of the right and leftarms ride to help hold the hanger bar assembly in various operativepositions. These detents are contained in the right and left arms 30,30and engage these cam surfaces on the right and left bases 28 to helphold the hanger bar support assembly in the position shown in FIG. 1, aswell as hold the hanger bar support assembly in the closed positionshown in FIG. 2.

As stated above, important advantages of the instant invention over theprior art are its ease of use, and ease of removal from the luggage casewhen not needed. This removable aspect is greatly aided by the followingmechanisms to inter-engage the folding bar assembly and the hanger barsupport assembly to one another and the hanger bar assembly to the rightand left bases affixed to the lid shell. Referring to various figures ingreater detail, one can see that each of the right and left arms have asocket 34 into which a generally square end of the hanger bar plug 32 isnormally received. The rear facing side of this square socket is open,thus exposing one of the peripheral slot portions 33 that are moldedinto the square end plug 32, which is best seen in FIGS. 13 and 14. Inthe upstanding position shown in FIG. 13, the hanger bar is easilyremoved and replaced into each of the socket portions of the right andleft arms. This is important because this permits easy placement of thesuit of clothing on hangers onto the hanger support bar at the top ofthe hanger bar support assembly. However, in order to block this barfrom falling out of the case while the packed clothing is being carriedin the luggage case, this exposed slot portion 33 protrudes from thesocket 34 and is engaged or held in place by the semicircular camsurface 36 that extends in a curved path along the outer edge of each ofthe bases. This is shown best in FIG. 19. Here, the cam surface passesinto the slot in the end plug of the arm (in this case the left arm) ofthe folding bar assembly and the flange formed on the end plug of thefolding bar. This cam surface extends along approximately 120 degrees ofrange of rotation of the hanger bar support assembly so that once thehanger bar support rotates past the erect position (FIG. 1) toward thepacked position, the cam surface 36 locks the folding bar assembly toeach of the right and left bases. Thus, generally, it is only when thekit is in the erect position, as shown in FIGS. 1, 3, 6, and 13 through16, that the folding bar assembly is easily removed. In the otherpositions, each of the end plugs is locked in place by the cam surface36 of the associated base, as shown for example in FIGS. 19 and 20. Thefolding bar assembly thus is easily removed both for packing andunpacking, as well as for removing, at the choice of the consumer theentire wardrobe kit.

To remove the entire wardrobe kit (excluding, of course, the right andleft bases which are permanently attached to the luggage case) anotherfeature comes into operation. Each axle on which the hanger bar supportassembly rotates includes a lobe 37 that fits into a complementaryshaped keyhole-shaped hole 38 in the respective base. This is seen invarious figures but more specifically in FIGS. 13 and 14. Note that theaxle lobe is not aligned with the keyhole shape in FIGS. 13 and 14.Thus, the arms of the hanger bar support assembly are usually lockedinto engagement with each of the right and left bases. It is only in theposition shown in FIG. 17 where the major portions of the hanger barsupport assembly are substantially horizontal so that the lobe on thearm axle aligns with the keyhole shape of the hole in each of the bases.When held in this horizontal position, the user need only flex the wireharp portions inward, moving the lobes inwardly to pass through thekeyhole shapes. This permits the removal of the entire hanger barsupport assembly. This opens the lid portion of the luggage case formore general packing and eliminates the kit entirely. The user need onlyrelease the conventional buckle fastener on the tension strap as shownin FIG. 18. The entire kit is thus set aside for later use.

Also, the flexible strap stays 10 near the ends of the hinge can bedisabled merely by unsnapping the snap-type fasteners 11 at their upperends (best seen in FIG. 10 for example). In this condition, the luggagecase is more or less a conventional luggage case with both the lid andbase shell capable of lying horizontally in the open position for moreconventional packing. The divider pad 6, of course, can still be used tohold the traveler's articles in the lid shell to permit the lid and baseshell to be folded closed and locked.

The snap-type fastener 11, shown and provided on the flexible stay asseen in FIG. 10, includes two mating portions 12 on a central part ofthe flexible stay. This permits the user to adjust the length of thestays, and thus the angle at which the stays hold the lid shell in theapproximately vertical position. This adjustment will permit the lid toremain open while supporting varying amounts of clothing. Also, theflexible stays may stretch if the luggage case remains open for a periodof time. Thus, the second position of the snap fastener could be used toshorten the length of the stay to compensate for this slight stretch.

Referring to FIG. 11 and others for some of the details of the preferredconstruction, the arms of the hanger support assembly include detent 26and detent springs 27 as mentioned before. Each arm actually consists oftwo main molded portions, the pivot 39 and the right and left armportions 31. The pivot includes two slots, each of which can receive aspring-biased detent mechanism. This permits the pivot to be used inconjunction with either the right or left arm portions. Also, FIG. 11shows how the end of the wire harp 21 is clamped between the pivot andthe arm portion. FIG. 12 shows the inward facing side of one of thebases 28 with its arm portion removed to show the cam surfaces 25 in thepath that the detent 26 on the arm passes during the rotation of thehanger bar support assembly.

The preferred operation of the inventive wardrobe kit will now bedetailed. For this explanation, we will presume that the kit has beenpreviously set aside, and the traveler now wishes to use the luggagecase as a portable wardrobe for a suit of clothing. In this situation,each of the flexible stays is snapped into place so that the lid shellof the luggage case is held in the substantially vertical position, orslightly past vertical, so that the weight of the lid shell holdstension against the flexible stays.

The hanger bar support assembly, which had been set aside, will now beinstalled. Referring to FIG. 17, this is easily done by holding the wireportion of the assembly in a substantially horizontal position. Thisplaces the lobed portions 37 of the axles in correct alignment with thekeyhole-shaped openings 38 into each of the right and left bases. Theuser now locates the bar support assembly into a substantially verticalposition, such as that shown in FIG. 16. If this has not already beendone, the elastic tension strap 35 is now stretched and fastened,placing the elastic strap in a tension position across the front portionthe lid shell. In the condition shown in FIG. 16, the case is ready toreceive the traveler's clothing.

The traveler need only hook the hook portions of the hangers over thehanger bar 22 located at the extreme top end of the hanger bar supportassembly. Preferably, the clothes are facing away from the traveler sothat the backs of the clothes will be folded over the folding bar.Preferably two, and perhaps three, sets of clothing on hangers can bearrayed on the hanger bar. The traveler smoothes the clothing so thatwrinkles are minimized. Then the folding bar end plugs are inserted ineach of the right and left arms. The folding bar assembly end plugs arespring biased by a conventional helical spring contained in acylindrical cavity inside the end plug. These springs push on each endof the ribbed center folding bar. The center folding bar is preferablyan extruded fiberglass hollow tube which has extreme rigidity andstrength adequate to support the folded clothing during folding andespecially during transport. The spring bias provided by the coilsprings (not shown) contained within each of the end plugs 32 helps holdthe thus outwardly biased plugs in place. Also, it should be noted thatthe center ribbed portion 24 of the hanger bar can essentially “float”or shift back and forth between the now captured plugs. This helpsprevent extra stress on the plugs which could cause them to pull out oftheir respective sockets, but also helps the clothes remain on the barwith minimal wrinkling.

So, in this condition (as shown in FIG. 3), the clothing is supportedfrom the hangers and hangs by gravity down from the hanger bar andsandwiched between the tension strap in the folding bar assembly. Theclothing is also captured between the inner surfaces of the right andleft arms. In this position, the user can easily smooth wrinkles andcontinue to pack the base portion of the clamshell luggage case.

Now, the user merely grips the hanger bar support assembly and pullsforward to overcome the resistance of the detents 26 and the normalforce of gravity helping hold the hanger bar support assembly in theerect position. The assembly, the folding bar, and hanging clothesrotate downwardly into the lid of the luggage case to assume theposition shown in FIG. 4. In this position, the detents 26, carried bythe right and left arms 30, pass over the other of the cam surfaces ineach of the base members to help hold the folded garments in thisposition. While not shown, the tension strap 35 has an importantfunction during this operation as well as during shipping; that is, thestrap helps hold the clothing snuggly against and around the folding barto help minimize wrinkling. As stated above, the tension strap iselastic to accommodate varying amounts (and thus thicknesses) of suchclothing around the bar.

Lastly, the traveler clips the divider pad 6, which is preferably arelatively conventional divider pad with a conventional releasablefastener at each upper corner, over the thus folded hanging garments.Then, the traveler closes the lid shell of the case, closes the latches,and proceeds to use the wheel and tow bar assembly normally a part ofmost upright luggage cases.

Unpacking is essentially easily done using a reverse of theabove-detailed steps.

1. A luggage case of the type having a lid and base shell, the lid shell having structural characteristics such as to be capable of supporting itself in a vertical position, the improvement comprising stay means attached to the lid shell to support the lid shell in a vertical position relative to a horizontal base shell, a pivotally supported hanger bar support holding a hanger bar sized to receive the hook portions of the hangers and the position above an uppermost portion of the lid shell in its vertical position, at least one pivotally mounted arm for holding the hanger bar above the upper portion of the lid shell and permitting the hanger bar to rotate downwardly and into the lid of the luggage case, the hanger bar being removably attached to the case by the arms means.
 2. A luggage case as set forth in claim 1 wherein the means for supporting the lid shell in the vertical position is a pair of stays, each stay of said pair extending between the lid shell and the base shell of the luggage case.
 3. A luggage case as set forth in claim 2 wherein each stay comprises a flexible strap which is releasably attached to one of the lid shell and the base shell, whereby, when both stays can be released to permit the lid shell to open to a horizontal position.
 4. A luggage case as set forth in claim 1 wherein said hanger bar support comprises a wire harp generally in the form of an inverted U with two downward arms when erect, one harp arm attached to said at least one pivotally mounted arm.
 5. A luggage case as set forth in claim 4 further including a base fixed to an upper portion of the lid shell, the base having one of a keyhole-shaped opening shaped to receive a lobed shaft and a lobed shaft, and the arm includes the other one of a keyhole-shaped opening shaped to receive a lobed shaft and the lobed shaft, the hole and the shaft being positioned to permit removing the hanger bar support when the wire harp is in a generally horizontal position while the lid shell is in a generally vertical position.
 6. A luggage case as set forth in claim 5 further including a second base fixed to an upper portion of the lid shell having one of a keyhole-shaped opening shaped to receive a lobed shaft and a lobed shaft, and a second arm including the other one of a keyhole-shaped opening shaped to receive a lobed shaft and the lobed shaft, the hole and the shaft of the second base and the second arm being positioned to permit removing the hanger bar support when the wire harp is in a generally horizontal position while the lid shell is in a generally vertical position.
 7. A luggage case as set forth in claim 1 further including a folding bar extending across the lid shell, the folding bar positioned so that clothing on hangers supported by the hanger bar fold over the folding bar when the hanger bar rotates downwardly into the lid shell of the luggage case.
 8. A luggage case as set forth in claim 7 wherein the folding bar is removable from the lid shell of the luggage case.
 9. A luggage case as set forth in claim 8 wherein the folding bar is removably mounted to the at least one pivotally mounted arm.
 10. A luggage case as set forth in claim 9 wherein the base includes means for selectively engaging the folding bar to prevent the folding bar from being removed from the pivotally mounted arm.
 11. A luggage case as set forth in claim 9 wherein the means for selectively engaging the folding bar includes a semicircular cam surface, and an end of the folding bar includes a slot for receiving a portion of the semicircular cam surface.
 12. A luggage case as set forth in claim 11 whereby the semicircular cam surface and the slot are positioned relative to one another such that they interengage with one another in most positions of the hanger bar support except when the hanger bar support is holding the hanger bar above the uppermost portion of the vertically oriented lid shell. 